Spain: Sports

La Liga for the masses

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An inside look at the teams that make Spanish soccer fans the most devoted, demented, and exalted in the world

Real Madrid: Proclaimed the best club of the twentieth century by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Real Madrid has the most titles of any team in the league. In recent years, the club has been living in the shadow of its eternal rival, FC Barcelona. This year, the second with José Mourinho as manager, is shaping up to be the one that might break the cycle.

FC Barcelona: The current holder of the Champions League and La Liga titles, this team nonetheless plays a secondary role to its all-powerful rival, Real Madrid. Over the last twenty years, especially after the arrival of Johan Cruyff (one of Barcelona's best former players) as manager, Barça (as the club is popularly known) has become one of the best clubs in Europe.

Valencia: Over the last twelve years, Valencia has managed to win the La Liga trophy twice and to play two European Champions League finals (losing one against Real Madrid and the other against Bayern Munich). In terms of technical skills, the team is a distant third to Madrid and Barça.

Levante: The other team from the city of Valencia. La Liga's dark horse of the season, they have made their stadium a fortress where their opponents have to sweat to achieve a positive result. This club is a regular in the Second Division, and it now seems strong enough to join the First Division. They are La Liga's biggest surprise.

Osasuna: The team from Pamplona, a city known worldwide for the San Fermín festival (with its Running of the Bulls) that Hemingway loved so much and described in such detail. Osasuna is one of La Liga's venerable teams, content to stay in the middle of the pack, but somehow the team sometimes sneaks its way into European competitions. Their character is built on fighting and getting results, two things that win out over beauty in their style.

Málaga: Purchased in 2010 by a Qatari sheik who has injected a large amount of money into the club to sign up big-name players, Málaga has gotten a few high-level players in the Liga Española (Cazorla, Joaquín, etc.) in addition to some already well-known names, such as Van Nistelrooy, Baptista, and Toulalan. Nonetheless, this club is a disappointment this year.

Sevilla: A team with one of the best fan bases in La Liga, Sevilla has finished behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent seasons.

Espanyol: The eternal second fiddle in the city of Barcelona. They had a very good run in the 1980s, but they have never won any La Liga trophies. A year ago they opened a new stadium, which has given much excitement back to fans who've become accustomed to suffering and living in the shadow of FC Barcelona, their eternal rival whom they love to hate.

Real Betis: Sevilla's eternal rival, and the rivalry between the two teams (and their fans) is almost greater than that between Madrid and Barça.

Athletic Club Bilbao: The oldest club in La Liga (founded in 1901). Its stadium, San Mamés, is known as the Cathedral, as it is one of the oldest in La Liga. The squad consists solely of players born in the Basque Country.

Real Sociedad: A great part of this club's prestige came in the 1980s, when it won two consecutive La Liga championships and created the legend of a great team. Its eternal rival is Athletic Club Bilbao, and the marathon matches between the two are epic.

Atlético Madrid: A team that aspires to be the best every year, but always achieves less than its fans expect. Thus, El Atleti (as the club is known) is the representative of suffering, lost causes, the working class, and antiheroes. Many singers, actors, and writers have sung or written about this club's woes.

Getafe: A new team and a recent addition of the Spanish soccer elite. Getafe is a commuter town of Madrid, and during games, the stands are half empty. The fan base is not passionate, but is gradually warming up. They represent the youth of Spanish soccer.

Rayo Vallecano: This club belongs to the Madrid neighborhood of Vallecas, a hardworking, humble, working-class area. Because of this, Rayo Vallecano is one of those likable teams with character, always alternating between the first and second divisions. Its fans are among the noisiest.

Real Mallorca: The team from the island experienced its greatest moments back in the late 1990s and established itself as one of the toughest opponents in Spain and in Europe. Lately Real Mallorca has been a team that always finishes mid-of the pack. Like Mallorca itself, their fans are a mix of foreigners (Swedes, Germans, and the English), but there are also a good number of Argentinians who cheer for the team. Even so, the stadium doesn't stand out as being very passionate.

Granada: The biggest surprise from last season, they are back in the First Division this year after almost two decades. Their aspirations are merely to remain in the First Division, and their fans, like all good Andalusians, turn every game into a party.

Real Rácing Club de Santander (better known as Rácing de Santander): Santander is a city similar to San Sebastián: in northern Spain, by the sea, cold and rainy in winter, with a high standard of living. A city accustomed to having its team in the First Division, but without too much passion. Their aspiration is to stay in the First Division.

Villarreal:Despite having gone through a rough time this season, Villarreal is the best example of what the power of soccer can do for a city. Villarreal is a small city in the province of Castellón that has just over 50,000 inhabitants. Its economic force and potential lie in its factories for tiling and decoration. Such economic development has enabled the improvement of a soccer team that, in the last ten years, has gone from nowhere to the very top, qualifying for the Champions League competition and coming close to the finals on several occasions. They are always one of the toughest opponents, even if they are disappointing it this year.

Sporting de Gijón: A historical phoenix, now rising from its ashes. After years in lower divisions, four years ago the club regained its rightful place in the top flight. The city of Gijón, located in beautiful Asturias, devotes itself to the cause of its team Sunday after Sunday.

Zaragoza: Zaragoza is a city located halfway between Madrid and Barcelona, important to Spain as a whole, and its team is a classic First Division club with financial problems. They've been improving over the past several years, but they're always flirting with tumbling down into the Second Division.